WASHINGTON -- Moms who are hot to stop global warming came with their kids to ask Congress Wednesday to get behind whatever measures are needed to fight climate change.

They held a "play-in" instead of a sit-in because most kids won't sit still for a sit-in. Their mothers worry about a future world where global warming floods the coasts, makes for ever-worse super-storms, and kills crops with massive droughts.

As San Jose, California, mom Linda Hutchins-Knowles put it, "I'm worried that it's not going to be sustainable for human life."

Gretchen Dahlkemper-Alfonso, national field manager of the Moms Clean Air Force, helped organize this event.

"Our pantry prices are rising because of extreme droughts," she pointed out. "I live on the eastern seaboard. My kids have seen more extreme storms in their short lifetimes than I ever saw when I was a kid growing up."

While these women say climate change will cause absolute catastrophic harm in future decades, they believe it's already hurting the country right now.

"We live in California and drought is a major issue right now. It's just devastating the agricultural base," Hutchins-Knowles said.

"The extreme weather events are hurting our families," Dahlkemper-Alfonso stated. "And the increased heat is hurting our kids. My 3-year-old suffers from asthma and I know that she is being affected by longer allergy seasons and higher heat in the summer."

But William Yeatman, with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, argues not everyone agrees climate change will be horrific.

"A lot of what you'll hear and certainly today were along the alarmist line," he told CBN News. "But is there a consensus at to whether or not global warming is the end-all threat facing mankind? There is no such consensus."

Hutchins-Knowles disagrees. And as a Quaker and environmentalist, she believes it's a godly duty to fight climate change.

"I believe that God has gifted us to be stewards of the planet," she said. "And it's our responsibility - a sacred duty - to protect what God's created."

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., came to the event located a few hundred feet from the U.S. Senate, saying she was there as a lawmaker, but also concerned grandmother and mom.

"If we ignore pollution from carbon, we are walking right into a death trap," she warned.

But Yeatman said some government leaders admit the United States alone can't seriously impact the climate. And if the whole world does all the United Nations wants, the results are still highly uncertain and the cost would be an economy-crippling $45 trillion.

"Which is a lot of money, a lot of lost economic growth, and indeed would cause a lot of human misery were such policies to that end to be implemented," Yeatman said. "We're talking about huge cost for absolutely zero benefit."

Still, these mothers who brought their children to the Capitol Hill play-in say their mind is made up. They believe climate change is an undeniable reality, it's going to become much worse in the future, and they say the country has to do something about it now.

Paul Strand

CBN News Washington Sr. Correspondent

As senior correspondent in CBN's Washington, D.C., bureau, Paul Strand has covered a variety of political and social issues, with an emphasis on defense, justice, and Congress. Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulStrandCBN and "like" him at Facebook.com/PaulStrandCBN.